MobiPrint: A Mobile 3D Printer for Environment-Scale Design and Fabrication

Abstract

3D printing is transforming how we customize and create physical objects in engineering, accessibility, and art. However, this technology is still primarily limited to confined working areas and dedicated print beds, thereby detaching design and fabrication from real-world environments and making measuring and scaling objects tedious and labor-intensive. In this paper, we present MobiPrint, a prototype mobile fabrication system that combines elements from robotics, architecture, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to enable environment-scale design and fabrication in ad-hoc indoor environments. MobiPrint provides a multi-stage fabrication pipeline: first, the robotic 3D printer automatically scans and maps an indoor space; second, a custom design tool converts the map into an interactive CAD canvas for editing and placing models in the physical world; finally, the MobiPrint robot prints the object directly on the ground at the defined location. Through a “proof-by-demonstration” validation, we highlight our system’s potential across different applications, including accessibility, home furnishing, floor signage, and art. We also conduct a technical evaluation to assess MobiPrint’s localization accuracy, ground surface adhesion, payload capacity, and mapping speed. We close with a discussion of open challenges and opportunities for the future of contextualized mobile fabrication.